OLDER and YOUNGER
On Titus Chapter 2
As you read hopefully, Paul instructs older men to train younger men, and older women to train younger women. The purpose of this is obvious- because older people have more experience, and experience tends to build more wisdom, and wisdom can be used to exhort and encourage ones' walk in the Lord. The only problem with older people teaching younger people- as far as age is concerned, is people become believers at all different ages, and you wouldn't have a new believer who is 60 be teaching a solid believer who is 25. I think Paul not only means age, but also spiritual maturity age as well. There are some really strong young believers, and there are some people of lesser faith who have lived most of their life already. An older person, more than likely has more life experiences than the younger, so in some ways, the older person still can help guide and give encouragement to the younger.
I think it is super important to have someone in your life that you look up to and respect spiritually, and someone in your life who you are an example to. This world is a crazy place, and it is good to have someone to go to for prayer, wisdom and questions regarding decisions who is of the same gender and who you respect and trust. Ultimately God is the best One to go to, but it's good to have an earthly example that God can use to speak into your life.
It is a great opportunity to be used in someone else's life as well. It is such a blessing to know that God is using your experiences to help shape the life of someone else. I wouldn't go looking for this person whom you can "train". But instead, ask God who knows the perfect match. You might not have someone like this in your life all the time- at least that you know of. God uses us all the time without our knowledge. It is amazing when someone comes up to you and tells you how blessed they are by you! It catches you off guard, and blesses you substantially- especially when you didn't know you had such an impact on that person!
- Leanne